Addressing a Lingering Mistake - Part 1

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the opportunity to be part of the LDSIG tour during the 2014 NMRA National Convention held in Cleveland, OH.  As part of the tour, layout owners were asked to report on what they would have done differently during a discussion session after the tours.  While I didn't have the opportunity to participate in the discussion directly, it did get me thinking or maybe it actually solidified some thoughts I had been having while constructing and operating the KLR.  One of the last things that I wanted to admit was that my design on the south wall of the layout had to sharp a curve in place.  Sure it could handle 40 and 50 ft boxcars OK, but I knew that I would be running some larger woodchip cars and centerbeam flatcars, as well as the daily passenger train.  However, I didn't have a yard in this area as yet, so I kept telling myself it was OK and never tested the curve with larger equipment.  However, fast forward to present day and the small staging yard is complete, connections made to the adjoining track and I've been running trains.  Well, I thought I was running trains until I tried some of my longer cars, including my nice Rapido passenger cars.  So tonight I bit the bullet after many weeks of thought as to what I could do. Maybe it was trying to run my passenger train through the curve that finally got me to act.  So instead of the barely 22 degree curve that was in place, I opted to rip out track and scenery to accommodate a 30 degree curve.  The choice of the 32 deg was based on this was about the smallest curve I could handle without a major reconstruction of the model and use some of the existing trackage nearby to reasonably make a connection.

Ripping out the scenery from two modules was sort of bittersweet. I never really liked that corner, something always bugged me about the scenery. While I liked the rock outcroppings in the background, the lack of any clear way to get to the N scale cabin that I had placed there bugged me.  So with my handy multi-purpose tool and hammer, I removed everything to the base foam layer. Boy was that hydrocal that was used tough to remove. Even the adhesive glue I used back then was tough to remove, as pieces just didn't want to come off. But an hours work, and here's the result, a new canvas to work with. I was able to save all of the rock outcrops, as I had built them to be removable.

Next to be modified was the old Eel's Creek module, which is actually the lead to the curve. In order to accomodate the change in track radius, I needed to add some new real estate and the only way to do so was to modify the bridge and surrounding scenery.  I had originally used a resin material to create the water, and while the effect was good, it was never really deep enough and I wasn't quite satisfied with the bank edges.  So it had to go too, which was no big loss, although I did try to save the bridge piers to no avail.

Prototype bridge over the Otonabee River

Not to bore you with the details, but here's a quick recap of what changed after the tear-out was completed:

• Increased the track radius to 30 deg  
• Re-shaped the topography of the western bank of Eels Creek
• Carved a new river channel
• Added a new river base via adding several coats of ModPodge
• Added a new bridge section
• Re-routed my track as it came to the creek and immediately after the bridge
• Ripped out the area behind the curve; the final scene in this area as yet to be determined
• Added many more rock castings

Most important thing, the curve now accommodates larger rail cars although it still is a fairly sharp curve.